


Kruise Of The Living Dead

by TanookiRoxx



Category: KISS (US Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cruise Ship, Attempt at Humor, Drama, End Of The Road Tour Era, Halloween, Hijinks & Shenanigans, KISS Kruise, M/M, Paul is being a total diva, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Romantic Angst, Suspense, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26277721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TanookiRoxx/pseuds/TanookiRoxx
Summary: KISS Halloween AU ~ It’s time for the annual Halloween festivities aboard the KISS Kruise, but as the party goes on, things start getting weirder and creepier.
Relationships: Eric Carr/Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons/Eric Singer, Gene Simmons/Shannon Tweed, Paul Stanley/Tommy Thayer
Comments: 25
Kudos: 23





	1. The Party

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a silly little Halloween fanfic. It's NOT to be taken seriously, it's all in good fun. This is written in an Alternative Universe, so all the KISS guys minus Mark are here in the same timeline.

It was Halloween Eve on the KISS Kruise. Many of the Kruisers had donned their Halloween outfits and were partaking in the various Halloween themed activities aboard the Norwegian Pearl. Others were chilling by the pool and on deck enjoying the cool, crisp autumn sea breeze.

KISS and their crew were busy prepping for a special private Halloween party. The party would be held later that night in a large room reserved on the fifth floor. Kruisers could attend for an extravagant VIP price, of course. Paul had suggested a Halloween party as a special perk for this year’s Kruise. Though everyone secretly suspected he only wanted to throw a party because Steven Tyler threw one for the Aerosmith fans last year. Needless to say, Paul was hell bent on making sure everything would be perfect tonight and grate on everyone’s nerves in the process.

“WHY AREN’T THE KISS VIDEOS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND? DOES SOMEONE WANT TO GET FIRED!?” Paul raged at couple of the crew members handling the video projections. 

“All that screaming cannot be good for Paul’s voice. He’s gonna lose his voice come party time,” Eric Carr said, sitting atop one of the guitar amps, watching Bruce strum on one of his guitars.

"ERIC, GET YOUR ASS OFF OF THOSE AMPS!" Paul looked over to scream at Eric.

Eric jumped off with his hands up in defense. 

Bruce shook his head while Paul focused his rage on poor Tommy next. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he smirked at Eric.

“TOMMY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I SPECIFICALLY SAID TO PUT THE HALLOWEEN KRUISE SHIRTS UP FRONT!”

Tommy sighed, dropping off another box of KISS merch onto a nearby table. “I know, Paul. We’re still unpacking.” He was REALLY trying hard not to roll his eyes.

“Okay…so I’m thinking we have the autograph sessions here at this table and then we can have the band pose behind the KISS logo banner for the photo ops in the corner,” Doc explained to Gene.

Gene pondered the layout of the room unimpressed. “That’s not very efficient, Doc. Move the banner behind the autograph table so we can sign their autographs and then take a photo with them on the spot.”

“Oh! That’s a great idea!” Doc marveled at Gene’s idea.

“Of course, it is. I thought of it,” Gene snorted, taking a sip from his Coca-Cola can.

“Hey Gene…can I talk to you about something?” Tommy asked shyly, approaching Gene.

“Does it involve money?”

“No.”

“Is it Kruise party related?”

“Not really.”

“Then I’m not interested,” Gene responded arrogantly, walking over to observe a nearby group of KISS crew members assembling the party decorations.

Eric Singer witnessed this interaction nearby and walked over to Tommy, offering him a cold bottle of water.

“Thanks, man,” Tommy forced a smile, accepting the water from Eric kindly.

“You should take a break, Tommy. You’ve been at it full force since early this morning.”

Tommy paused to take a long sip from the refreshing water. “I know…there’s just so much to do. We’ll be done faster if I take less breaks.”

“Damn…Paul’s really got you on a short leash! WHACK!” Eric imitated the sound of a whip cracking.

Tommy tensed up at the mention of Paul and laughed awkwardly.

Eric eyed Tommy’s suspiciously. “So…what were you going to talk to Gene about?”

“Oh! Umm nothing,” Tommy responded awkwardly.

“C’mon Tommy! You’ve known me just as long as Gene! I thought we were bros too,” Eric scoffed, clearly offended by Tommy’s standoffish behavior.

“We are…it’s just personal.”

“How come you never confide in me like you do with Jaime?”

Tommy gave Eric a serious look. “Maybe because you can’t keep a secret.”

“Yes, I can! I’ll have you know I didn’t tell a soul about Gene sleeping with all the L.A. KISS cheerleaders!” Eric announced loud enough for everyone in the room, or rather the entire fifth floor could hear.

“HE DID WHAT?” Shannon shrieked, storming out of the room.

“Damnit Eric! You’re in trouble when I get back,” Gene growled, running to try to catch up with Shannon.

“Heh…good,” Eric purred, blowing him a kiss.

Tommy looked at Eric in bewilderment. 

“What? Okay…Before just now did any of you know about that?” Eric asked everyone randomly in the room. A few people shook their heads. 

“AH HA! See? I CAN keep a secret. In your face, Tommy!” Eric obnoxiously bragged, pointing to Tommy for emphasis.

“Okay…fine I’ll tell you if you lower your damn voice,” Tommy shushed him. “I’m thinking about breaking up with Paul,” he whispered, making sure no one was near them.

Eric blinked a couple of time, clearly taken aback by Tommy’s confession. “Whew, boy! You know you’ll be committing career suicide if you do that, of course, that’s the risk you take when you shag your boss…”

“TOMMY! STOP CHATTING WITH ERIC AND COME HELP ME WITH THESE OTHER SHIRTS!” Paul shouted from across the room.

“That doesn’t matter to me, Eric! Things have gotten very complicated between us,” Tommy huffed in frustration.

“Okay…” Eric said cautiously. “Can I ask why? Does it have anything to do with Paul continuously busting your balls today?”

“No…he’s just been so cold and moody since the tour ended. I feel like he’s pushing me away. I just don’t know what to do...”

Eric placed a comforting hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “My advice, I think you should talk things out with Paul first. Maybe not today with the party and all. But if you are insistent on breaking up with him…do us all a favor and wait until after the concert tomorrow night.”

“Thanks Eric,” Tommy deadpanned still unsure of what he was going to do.

“No problem! You better get over there! Paul looks like he’s about to blow another gasket!” Eric observed, gesturing over to Paul having a loud verbal disagreement with the Kruise producers.

“Geez, what’s gotten up Paulie’s ass lately?” Ace asked Peter while putting a box on the bar table.

“Definitely not Thayer,” Peter responded with a smirk trying to keep a straight face.

Ace and Peter both cackled and wheezed obnoxiously over this little joke. Tommy rolled his eyes as he walked by.

“Ace, what the hell is this?” Paul yelled, gesturing to what was inside the box next to him. “And are you drinking?” he asked in a judgmental tone.

“Umm, I believe they’re called guitar picks and no, it’s club soda,” Ace sarcastically spat, taking a sip of his “club soda.”

Paul fumed at Ace’s smartassery. “I know what they are, Ace, but why aren’t these the limited-edition Halloween ones like I asked you to pick up on your way over here?”

Ace looked confused and a little bit pissed off.

“What? You said you were saving those picks for the show tomorrow night!”

“We don’t need that many picks for tomorrow’s show! It’s a Halloween party! How can we not offer Halloween merch at a Halloween party?! Will you just think for once in your life!?” Paul snapped, pacing around the room in frustration.

“Woah! Calm down, Paul. It was an honest mistake! Just have one of your lackeys, like your butt boy, Thayer go down to the merch room and grab them,” Peter scoffed, clearly over Paul’s diva behavior.

Paul was about to let Peter have it when he noticed the crew had stopped working and were surrounding Vinnie’s table.

“Vinnie, what the hell are those?” Eric Carr asked, eyeing the strange looking dolls Vinnie had placed on his table.

“Aren’t they cool?” Vinnie squealed with delight. “They’re ancient Egyptian deities! I bought them from a witchcraft store near the Miami port for the party.”

Ace cackled from afar. “Whatever gets you off, man.”

On the table were three mummified looking creatures dressed in weathered cloaks.

“This is Petbe. He’s the God of Revenge,” Vinnie gestured to a menacing looking doll with a deformed darkened face on the left.

“And this is Meretseger. She’s the Goddess of Punishment and Mercy,” he gestured to the doll in the middle with the head of a woman and the body of a snake.

“And finally, we have Kek, the God of Chaos and Darkness,” he gestured to the last doll on the right with a frog like face and piercing eyes.

“Damn, this is some freaky looking shit. They look so realistic,” Eric Singer mused, picking up Petbe to examine his disfigured features more closely.

“Holy shit! They feel realistic too,” Bruce yelped, rubbing his finger along Kek’s amphibian facial features.

Gene shook his head trying to hide his interest from the others. “I hope you didn’t pay too much for those.”

“I got them for a bargain! The old lady that runs the shop insisted I leave with them,” Vinnie boasted, picking up Meretseger with a huge smile. “They’re perfect!”

“They’re atrocious,” Paul scowled, making a face of disgust when he was close enough to see the dolls. “Get rid of them. I don’t want these creepy voodoo dolls at the party.”

“They’re not voodoo! They’re ancient Egyptian deities! You said we could personalize our own tables at the party, and I want them for decoration on mine,” Vinnie pouted, gently placing Meretseger back on the table along with Petbe and Kek.

“Out of the question! There will mostly likely be children in attendance tonight. I don’t want you creeping out the guests with those hideous things!”

Vinnie threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Seriously? It’s a Halloween party for crying out loud! You’re supposed to have spooky decorations!”

Paul picked up the dolls and threw them haphazardly into an empty box on the floor.

“What the hell are you doing!? Be careful with those!” Vinnie freaked out.

Paul picked the box up and shoved it into Vinnie’s arms. “Take this garbage back to your room where it belongs.”

Vinnie narrowed his eyes at Paul. “Don’t you dare disrespect the deities! That is a fate you don’t want to deal with,” he said cryptically before leaving the room with his dolls in tow.

Tommy approached Paul, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Hey, everything okay? Try not to let Vinnie get to you,” he said sweetly.

Paul sighed, rubbing his temples to alleviate stress. “I’m fine, Tommy.”

“You know…we have a few hours until the party. I think the crew can finish up here. Why don’t we go take a little break on the top deck and relax for a bit?” he suggested, kissing Paul’s forehead.

Paul scoffed, pushing Tommy off of him. “We still have lots of work to do here. I need you to run down to the merch room and grab the Halloween picks that Ace failed to retrieve.”

Tommy watched sadly as Paul walked off to discuss the party finances with Gene and Doc before he took his leave.

“Hey Peter, did you see those creepy dolls Vinnie brought in?” Eric Carr asked, sitting beside Peter.

Peter took a sip of his beer before answering, “Sure did. I think they look stupid. I’m glad Paul made him get rid of them.”

Eric nodded in agreement. “Same here. I don’t know what it is but something about those dolls gives me the creeps. I’m getting some bad vibes off of them. I don’t know what it is but when I looked at them, I just felt strange…Didn’t Vinnie say he got them at a black magic shop?”

Peter chuckled. “Don’t tell me you believe in ghost stories and all that bullshit. I’m not buying into that witchcraft nonsense. Not one bit! Knowing Vinnie, he probably bought those cheesy looking dolls at a thrift store, and he’s just trying make them appear all mysterious and shit.”

Eric gave a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He tried to keep his mind off those dolls but something was just bugging him about them. “I’ve never seen anything that creepy being sold at a thrift store though,” he whispered to himself. The thought of those dolls sent chills back down his spine.

Every time Paul turned around it seemed as there was something new pissing him off. “Keith, you’re supposed to be taking MY picture!”

A dark figure observed everything quietly from the doorway. The figure was about to leave until another dark figure approached, leaning into whisper, “Don’t worry…we’ll show him.”


	2. The Disappearances

It was late into the evening when the party had begun. All the KISS members except Bruce wore their respective makeup and outfits. Many of the guests were dressed in very elaborate costumes and makeup with most of them dressed as KISS themselves. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. KISS music blared in the background while the guests took turns mingling with their favorite band members. 

Paul was being extra clingy with Tommy. The poor spaceman couldn’t wonder off without Paul being right there breathing down his neck. After the last group photo with a fan was taken, Tommy tried to follow Jaime to the bar but was pulled back by Paul’s firm grip on his arm.

“Tommy, where are you going? Chris wants to interview me and I want you there with me,” Paul whined, latching onto to Tommy like a ball and chain.

“I’ll be over there in a minute. I just want to catch up with Jaime for a bit,” Tommy replied awkwardly.

Just as Tommy tried to walk away, he was pulled back by Paul again. “Wh... what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked anxiously.

Tommy arched his eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean by what’s that supposed to mean?”

Paul fidgeted. “Why are you so eager to be with Jaime and not me?” he asked with a bit of an attitude.

“It’s not like that, Paul! I haven’t really spoken to him since we boarded the ship. Our touring schedules have been so hectic, we haven’t gotten to hang out in a while, that’s all,” Tommy shrugged casually not understanding why Paul was being so anxious about Jaime all of a sudden.

Paul huffed, folding his arms in disapproval. “Whatever.”

Tommy tensed up from Paul’s harsh tone. “Are you seriously mad at me right now for wanting to visit with my best friend?”

“Don’t worry about it, Tommy! Just go have fun with Jaime!” Paul spat, releasing his grip on Tommy’s arm, turning to walk away.

Tommy reached out to grab Paul’s hand. “If it means that much to you, I can catch up with Jaime later.”

“I said don’t worry about it,” Paul scoffed, pulling away coldly, stomping off to the opposite side of the room leaving a perplexed Tommy behind.

On his way to meet Chris, Paul passed by a couple of the other band members.

Eric Carr was getting hit on by a very persistent fanboy. The fan kept trying to hold Eric’s hand while professing his underlying love for The Fox. Eric was very uncomfortable but didn’t know what to do. He tried turning him down politely, but the fanboy just wasn’t taking the hint. Being the sweetheart that he was, Eric didn’t want to come off as rude.  
Ace witnessed this awkward interaction and just couldn’t help himself.

“Ay! Back off buddy, he’s with me!” Ace announced, pulling a surprised Eric into a passionate kiss.

“Not again!” Eric yelped before Ace’s mouth claimed his in an intense smooch fest.

Eric smacked Ace’s back trying to get him to let up already, but it only made Ace smirk deviously. Eric’s eyes widened in shock as he tried to pull away, but Ace held onto him tightly, tilting him back to deepen the kiss as if they were in a romance movie. All the nearby fans merely chuckled thinking this was all part of a hilarious prank.

Bruce was in awe of the intricate Halloween makeup designs on some of the fans. “Cool makeup! Did you guys do it yourselves?” he asked, examining this lady and her husband’s zombie makeup. It looked like the skin on their faces were actually rotting off.

“The makeup artists on the first deck did it for us. They are so talented!” the lady squealed in excitement.

Meanwhile Gene was showing off the newest official KISS Kruise Halloween party shirt at the merch table for the low, low price of $89.99. The fans looked at Gene and then the shirt with uncertainty evident in their eyes.

“For an additional twenty bucks, I’ll autograph it,” Gene offered, waving the shirt around in a taunting manner.

At this proposal, everyone immediately starting reaching for their wallets, bombarding the cashier with cash, checks and credit cards galore! While Gene was signing shirts, Eric Singer had snuck up behind him, snaking his arm around The Demon’s waistline.

As Gene leaned down, Eric had whispered something into his ear causing him to smirk wickedly.

Paul was just about to speak to Chris until he was stopped by a couple of college aged girls squealing for a selfie with him. They were dressed very provocatively, giving Paul an ample view of cleavage. He happily obliged the selfie requests even going as far to shamelessly flirt with them in hopes of making Tommy jealous. Of course, Tommy was too invested in his conversation with Jaime to notice which only frustrated Paul even more. He was contemplating giving Tommy another piece of his mind when those grotesque dolls on Vinnie’s table caught his eye.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Paul growled to no one in particular.

Gene happened to be nearby to overhear Paul. “What’s wrong this time, Paul?” he sighed, turning around to face the aggravated frontman.

“Don’t start with me, Gene. I asked Vinnie not to bring those damn dolls to the party and what does he do? He goes and does it anyway out of spite!”

Gene narrowed his eyes. “They do look a bit out of place.”

“Exactly! I’m going to make him to get rid of them.”

“And that’s why I prefer using a drum machine to an actual drummer! Much more efficient for shredding,” Vinnie explained to a crowd full of doe-eyed fans.

“VINNIE!” Paul called out. 

Vinnie looked up to see a pissed off Starchild coming towards him. “Yes?” he answered cautiously, avoiding Paul’s angry stare. 

“I need to have a word with you in private.”

“Okay…” Vinnie replied uneasily. “I’ll be right back,” he assured his fans before stepping off to the side with Paul.

“What the hell did I tell you earlier!?”

Vinnie sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t bring any of my personal merch to sell, Paul.”

Paul shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about! I told you specifically not to bring those freaky dolls back here,” he snapped, gesturing to the dolls proudly on display.

“Oh? Well…I decided to bring them along anyway. I mean, c’mon Paul, it’s Halloween! If they bothered anyone, I would have put them away, but they seem to be a hit! I’ve gotten nothing but compliments and questions about them all night,” Vinnie shrugged.

“Well, they clearly bother me. Get rid of them!”

Vinnie folded his arms in disapproval. “Lighten up, Mean Mr. Mustard! It’s all in good fun. Everyone here digs them but you. I shouldn’t have to put them away all because you’re the only one scared of them.”

A small crowd of fans watching this interaction snickered at the thought of Paul Stanley being afraid of Halloween decorations. Paul blushed in embarrassment.

“I am not scared of them, Vinnie! I just think they are very inappropriate!” Paul yelled, clearly pissed off at Vinnie’s accusation. 

“How the hell are they inappropriate!?” Vinnie yelled back, causing more nosy onlookers to stop and gawk at the two bickering musicians. 

Paul clenched his teeth. “I’m in charge and what I say, goes! Pack your shit up and get the hell out of here. If you can’t follow my orders then you can’t stay.”

Vinnie was fuming. He was half tempted to tell Paul where to go and how to get there fast but chose to keep his mouth shut since there were lots of people there. With balled fists, he stormed out of the room leaving the dolls behind. 

“What’s going on with Vinnie?” Bruce asked while Paul threw those dolls into a nearby box.

Paul sighed, rolling his eyes. “Typical Vinnie. He gets upset when he doesn’t get his way and just runs away like always! And now I’m stuck cleaning up his mess…AGAIN.”

Bruce nodded. “Do you want me to take those dolls back to him?” he asked, gesturing to the box in Paul’s hands.

Paul snorted. “Don’t bother. I don’t trust Vinnie. He’ll just bring them back here to piss me off even more. I’m getting rid of them once and for all.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Bruce asked hesitantly. He felt a cold chill trickle down his spine looking at the creepy dolls laying carelessly in the box. If he didn’t know any better, he could’ve sworn he just saw them twitch!

“If Vinnie cared about them, he would have taken them with him like I asked him to!”

Just as Paul was about to dump them into a nearby garbage can, he was stopped by Doc waving him over. “Paul, Chris is ready to do the interview now.”

“I’ll be right there. I have to take care of something first.” Paul looked over just as the janitor was taking the garbage can away. “Hey Peter, can you dump this for me when the janitor brings that garbage can back? I have to go give an interview,” he asked, setting the box down beside The Catman, who was in the middle of signing a Peter Criss solo album vinyl for a longtime fan.

“Whatever you say, Paulie.”  
…

About an hour later, the party was still going strong, but Vinnie had not yet returned.

Eric Carr wondered around the room looking around nervously. Ace was at the bar, loudly entertaining fans with an infamous story about one of the many times he destroyed his hotel room in the 70s.

“Ace, I need to talk to you,” Eric said hastily, tugging on The Spaceman’s sleeve.

Ace arched an eyebrow. “Eh? Back for round two already? Well, aren’t you the randy one tonight,” he grinned, puckering up his lips as he leaned in closer to an annoyed Eric.

Eric used his hand to block Ace’s lips from kissing him again. “That’s not why I’m here! Have you noticed something very odd about this party?”

Ace cackled at the absurd question. “Eric, it’s a KISS related event! When the hell are any of these types of gatherings ever normal?”

Eric shook his head. “No, I don’t mean it like that! Just look around and you’ll see what I’m talking about,” he said, gesturing around the room.

Ace squinted his eyes, surveying the room of various guests drinking and chatting with other guests. “Umm, what exactly am I looking for?”

“Doesn’t it seem like there are fewer people here? I think Doc said there were 200 guests on the list, including the crew and band, it looks like there is at least half that number now! Also, I can’t find Vinnie, Bruce, Gene, and Eric anywhere! They’ve been gone for at least an hour.”

Ace grinned. “Ah, you’re worrying way too much! Come on! Let’s order you a nice stiff drink,” he said, patting Eric on the back. “That’ll make you better.”

Tommy approached the two just as Ace was ordering Eric a drink from the bar. “Have any of guys seen Jaime? He was just here a few minutes ago.”

“Jaime!” Ace hollered out obnoxiously, turning his attention to the other spaceman. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned about Paulie?”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Well…it’s not just Jaime. I can’t find any of the roadies either.”

“See! I told you something weird is going on around here! Maybe we should go tell Paul,” Eric suggested, looking up at Ace with pleading eyes.

Ace lightly smacked Eric on the shoulder. “Do you really want to open up that can of worms with Paulie?”

“Well, no, but…”

“Wait! You said there was something weird going on? What do you mean and why do we need to tell Paul?” Tommy interjected, looking at Ace and Eric suspiciously.

“Tell me what exactly?”

The three turned around to see Paul looking at them with his arms folded and a raised eyebrow.

“We think Gene, Eric, Bruce, Vinnie, Jaime, and a few of the crew are missing,” Eric blurted out.

Paul sighed. “No one is missing, Eric. Vinnie is probably in his cabin still sulking. He stormed off after I told him to get rid of those damn dolls once and for all. Gene and Eric are probably fooling around in a utility closet or random room somewhere on the ship. Knowing Bruce and his weak stomach, he’s probably in the restroom. The roadies are on break, and as for Jaime, well, I’m sure Tommy would have a better idea as to his whereabouts since he’s been following him around all night long,” Paul said, giving Tommy an envious look.

“Did Vinnie take those dolls with him?” Tommy asked in hopes of changing the subject to avoid Paul’s wrath.

“No, he left them here so I had Peter trash them.”

Ace cackled. “Are you sure about that Paulie?” he asked, pointing to the table behind Paul.

Paul turned around to see the Petbe doll standing on the table pointing an accusing finger directly at him.

Paul nearly jumped out of his skin. “What the? Damnit Peter!”

“What? What did I do this time, Paul?” Peter asked, walking up to the bar.

“Peter, I told you to throw those dolls away!” Paul growled at the smaller man.

“I did!”

“Oh yeah? Then what the hell is that?” Paul shouted, pointing at the lone doll.

Peter flinched. “What the? I didn’t put that there! I threw them into the trash just like you asked me to.”

Ace cackled. “Great Halloween prank, Cat!”

“I’m fucking serious, Ace! I did not put that doll there!”

“Yeah, very nice prank, Peter,” Paul sarcastically spat.

“FOR THE LAST TIME I DID NOT PUT THAT FUCKING DOLL THERE!” Peter raged at Paul. “I hated those goddamn things as much as you do. I wanted them gone too! Look Paul, I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but I swear on my grandmother’s grave that I had nothing to do with this doll. God as my witness, I threw them in the trash,” Peter professed, throwing his hands up in surrender.

“You could’ve dug them out of the trash when no one was looking,” Ace snickered, ignoring the death threat Peter was giving him.

“Sounds like a confession out of you, Ace!” Peter accused.

Ace waved his hand. “It wasn’t me. Hell, I haven’t been anywhere near those freaky things all night.”

“I don’t care who had them last!” Paul scoffed, picking up the doll. “If you want something done right around you, you gotta do it yourself.”

“Here. Let me have it. I’ll make sure it gets trashed for real this time,” Peter offered, grabbing onto the doll as well.

“No! You clearly failed to do so last time,” Paul scoffed, pulling the doll away from Peter.

“JUST FUCKING GIVE IT TO ME PAULIE. I’M NOT GOING TO HAVE YOU TALK SHIT ABOUT ME CAUSE I DIDN’T THROW YOUR DAMN TRASH AWAY PROPERLY!” Peter yelled, pulling even harder on the doll.

“Peter, let go!”

“YOU LET GO!”

After a few seconds of aggressive tug o’ war, Petbe’s head came off with a loud pop. 

Paul dropped the disfigured head on the table in shock. “Now look what you’ve done!”

Peter threw the rest of the body onto the table, glaring at Paul. “Me? Look what YOU did! I told you to fucking let go! But you and your damn ego…”

Just then the power went off in the room, causing several guests to scream and gasp in surprise. When the house lights came back on, the doll was gone.

“What did you do with the doll?” Paul asked, looking up at Peter nervously.

Peter had slight panic in his eyes. “I…didn’t do anything to it, Paulie. I didn’t touch it!” He looked over at the other three band members at the bar.

Tommy and Ace looked at each other and then at Paul and Peter apprehensively while Eric was chugging his vodka drink in one large gulp to calm his nerves.

Paul felt someone grab his left arm, causing him to jump and gasp, and turn around in defense.

“Damnit Doc, you’re going to give me a heart attack,” Paul sighed, relieved to see it was only his manager.

“Paul, we have a situation…I need to talk to you in private,” Doc whispered with a grim look on his face.


	3. The Search

It was around 10:00PM and still no sign of Gene, Eric Singer, Bruce, Vinnie, or Jaime. The Kruise producers had started a KISS Karaoke competition with prizes as a means to distract the irate guests from the missing KISS members. Currently, two VERY drunk biker looking guys dressed as the starchild and the spaceman were singing a duet to “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” to a crowd of equally drunken guests. Everyone seemed to be cheering, whistling and laughing. It was a good enough distraction for now…

“Geez Louise, where the hell are they!? Gene and Eric would never give up a chance to show off in front of a crowd, Bruce is far too polite to just leave without saying goodbye, and Vinnie, well, I guess this isn’t really off behavior for Vinnie, but he KNOWS the penalty for no shows at KISS events,” Paul ranted to Doc in private.

“I know! I know! I sent Ross and Keith to go look for them, but that was about thirty minutes ago, and I haven’t seen or heard from them either! What are we going to do? The guests are getting pissed off, and we only have so much alcohol to keep them occupied,” Doc panicked, frantically gesturing to an almost empty bar.

“You’re the manager! Fix it!”

“How exactly am I—”

“Two words: DO IT!” Paul demanded of his very anxious looking manager.

Ace, Peter, Tommy, and Eric were eavesdropping nearby at the bar.

“This is getting really creepy, you guys. What if something horrible happened to the others?” Eric asked nervously.

Peter rolled his eyes, waving off Eric’s concern. “I bet you money they all bailed because this party is getting lame.”

Ace cackled; smacking Peter so hard in the back he nearly fell off his barstool. “So…real talk, Cat, what did you really do with those dolls?”

“I already told ya, Ace! I didn’t do shit with them! I threw them away.”

Ace squinted his eyes and then whispered, “It’s cool, Cat. You don’t have to tell me now. It’ll be our little secret,” he winked.

“Peter, did you have something to do with that vanishing doll on the table?” Tommy asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“Are you all deaf or dumb!?” Peter exclaimed. “I. HAD. NOTHING. TO. DO. WITH. THAT. These damn spandex pants don’t even have pockets! Where in the hell would I hide the doll from Paul?”

“Man, you are one convincing bastard! This might be your greatest prank yet, Petey!” Ace grinned like a lunatic.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Peter roared, launching at Ace ready to punch his headlights out.

Tommy and Eric jumped in to intervene just in the nick of time. Tommy held Ace back while Eric pulled Peter back. Peter kept shouting expletives, cursing Ace’s family back to the stone age while Ace kept egging the short-tempered drummer on. The ruckus got so out of control, Paul and Doc ceased their private conversation to help break it up. While everyone was trying to calm Peter down, something caught the corner of Eric’s eye.

“Woah! What is that?” Eric shrieked, pointing to three cloaked people standing off to themselves in the corner on the opposite side of the room. Everyone looked over to see the strange trio. Their faces were hidden in the shadows as they quietly observed the band from a distance. As soon as Eric called attention to them, they briskly exited the room.

“Holy shit! They’re dressed exactly like Vinnie’s dolls!” Ace blurted out before Eric could voice the same observation.

“No, they weren’t. That’s just a coincidence,” Paul replied coolly, but deep down he was starting to get nervous.

“Guys, don’t you think it’s odd all this weird shit has been happening since those dolls were thrown out?” Eric asked, shaking like a leaf on a tree.

Peter sighed, rolling his eyes. “Eric, you’re not still harping on that supernatural bullshit again, are you? It’s Hallo-fucking-ween! There’s bound to be creepy looking people wearing cloaks! How are they different from any other guest here?”

“You know, I don’t recall ever seeing those people before,” Tommy pointed out. A strange, eerie chill tingled down his spine at this realization.

“Me either…” Ace said quietly. He looked lost in deep thought.

“What? So you guys remember exactly what every guest here wore tonight?” Peter snorted, turning his attention back to his beer. He was done with this ridiculous discussion.

“Peter’s right. I’ve seen several people here dressed in cloaks—” Paul spoke but was interrupted by Eric.

“Yeah, but old, weathered looking cloaks? The same color and style as Vinnie’s dolls? As freaky as those dolls were, we would’ve remembered someone dressed exactly like them!”

“I’m telling you, Eric, this is all just a coincidence. Look, I’ll prove it!” Paul turned his attention to Doc. “Doc, call security and bring those three back over here.”

Doc pulled out the walkie talkie from his pocket, holding down the talk button, “Joe, this is Doc, do you copy?”

“Hi Doc, what’s happening?” Joe’s voice crackled back on the walkie talkie’s receiver.

“Do you know the whereabouts of those three guests that just exited the room? They were dressed in these white, dirty stained looking cloaks.”

“When did you see these people leave?”

“Literally about five minutes ago.”

“I haven’t seen anyone that fits that description. Are you sure they exited the room?”

Eric and Ace exchanged weirded out looks while Peter paid them no attention and kept drinking his beer.

“What the hell is he doing out there? Sleeping on the job! How the hell do three large figures like that get by unnoticed!?” Paul ranted at Doc.

“Yes! There’s only one exit from this room. I saw them walk out with my own two eyes. How in the world could you miss that?” Doc responded dumbfounded, gripping tightly onto the walkie talkie.

“The last people I saw walk out was Keith and Ross but that was a while ago. Doc, I haven’t left this spot outside the door all night. I didn’t see any white cloaked people enter or leave.”

Eric jumped in at that, “Wait a minute! He didn’t see Gene, Eric, Jaime, Bruce, Vinnie or any of the other crew members leave? Ask him if he’s seen them!”

Doc sighed but pressed the talk button once more. “Joe, besides Keith and Ross, did you see Jaime, Gene, Eric Singer, Bruce, Vinnie or any of the other crew members leave?”

No response.

Paul threw his hands up in exasperation and grabbed the walkie talkie out of Doc’s hands.

“HELLLLLLLLLLLO? Earth to Joe!” Paul responded impatiently into the walkie talkie.

A crackling sound was heard and then Joe’s voice, “I’m sorry, I was checking the security cameras. Yeah, I saw Vinnie storm out about an hour ago, but I have not seen Gene, Eric, Jaime, Bruce or any other crew member besides Keith and Ross leave the party room. Also, I just double checked the security monitors, I do not see any signs of any white cloaked people. Is this an emergency? Do I need to call for backup?”

Paul didn’t respond. He just stood there looking out in space. Was he losing his grip on reality? He just SAW those three people. The others clearly saw them too! That couldn’t have been a hallucination!

“Paul, maybe we should just call off the party. You’ve been under a great deal of stress lately. There’s something obviously wrong here, and I feel like things are going to just keep getting worse until we do something about it,” Doc said nervously, obviously quite creeped out by Joe’s response.

“Doc, do you copy?” Joe’s voice crackled.

“No, we are not cancelling the party! Everything’s fine,” Paul hissed before responding back into the walkie talkie. “Joe, that will not be necessary. Keep a lookout and let us know asap when you do see them!”

“Roger that.”

“This is really starting to freak me out! How in the hell could Joe not have seen the others leave? What if something bad happened to them? This is a small room! They’re clearly not in here! Where else could they be?” Eric started to panic.

Ace chuckled, patting Eric on the back. “Easy there, Foxy. Let’s order you another drink.”

“Calm down, Eric! I’m sure this is all some stupid prank orchestrated by Gene and Eric just to scare us. I swear, I am going to let them have it when I see them!” Paul groaned, rubbing his temples.

“Ay, where the hell is Thayer?” Peter piped up, looking around, noticing the other spaceman was nowhere to be found.

Ace looked around in wide eyed wonder. “What the? He was literally just here seconds ago! I swear I’m sober enough to know that!”

Eric nearly had a panic attack. “What the hell? We would’ve noticed him leaving!”

Paul looked around the room anxiously. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this.”

“Yeah, he wanted to get away from Paulie,” Ace whispered to Peter, who nearly spit out his beer from trying to contain his laughter.

“Like what? He just vanished into thin air! C’mon Paul, will you just admit that something really unsettling is going on here?” Doc freaked, looking around the room, hoping to spot Tommy in the corner chatting with fans or something.

“Of course, I’m aware something strange is happening! I’m just saying that I’m positive this is all one big prank, and unless there’s evidence to prove me wrong, you can’t change my mind about that,” Paul snapped, running a hand to smooth out the unruly curls on his wig.

Peter slammed his beer bottle down on the bar table and stood up abruptly.

Doc arched his eyebrow, watching Peter get up and leave the bar. “Peter, where exactly are you going?”

Peter stopped and turned to face the others. “To get shit done. I’m going up to the cabins to prove once and for all those guys are holed up in their rooms.”

Ace cackled and stood up to follow him out. “Atta boy, Cat! Eric and I are going with you!”

Eric shook his head frantically no. “Hell no! I’m staying right here. We don’t know for sure if that’s where they are.”

“No, you can’t leave! The guests will be pissed if any more KISS members leave the party,” Doc pleaded with Peter and Ace.

Peter rolled his eyes. “We’ll be right back, Doc. I’m just going upstairs to prove a point. I bet you all a thousand bucks each, they’re all up in Gene’s room watching some old school horror flick.”

“But!” Doc started to protest.

“Oh, just let them go, Doc! Let’s just go and enjoy the damn party. If no one is back in twenty minutes then we can start to worry,” Paul replied, walking off to go mingle with a group of nearby fans.

…

About twenty minutes later, Paul was in the middle of an inspirational speech to a group of fans about the importance of standing up for yourself and living the best life you can possibly live when Doc and Eric decided to interrupt him.

“Psst...Paul! We need to talk to you!” Eric whispered, leaning in close to Paul’s ear.

“Can it wait?” He harshly whispered back.

Eric kept tugging on Paul’s arm. “No! It’s urgent!”

“I’ll be right back,” Paul said, right before Eric pulled him off to side with Doc.

“What is your problem?” Paul asked Eric in disbelief.

“Paul, it’s been exactly twenty minutes and still no sign of those guys, including Peter and Ace! Damnit, I knew this was a bad idea!” Doc freaked. “I’ve been trying to call every channel on this damn walkie talkie and no response from anyone…not even Joe!”

“What do you mean you can’t even get in touch with our security? Is someone even guarding the front entrance right now!? What the hell, Doc?” Paul roared. This night was quickly turning into a shit show.

“Well…y..y..yes there is someone up front,” Doc stammered. “It’s Joe’s backup. He said Joe went on break twenty minutes ago and never came back…exactly the same time that Ace and Peter left. This is getting too freaky,” he said with a head shake.

“What in the hell is going on around here!? What kind of manager allows everything to spiral out of control!?” Paul screamed at Doc, who was merely at a loss of words as to what was happening right now.

Eric squinted his eyes and then exclaimed, “Hey, I think I see Jaime and Tommy!” He pointed across the room, sure enough, there was Jaime and Tommy chatting amicably and laughing it up without a care in the world.

Paul scoffed at the nerve of those two. With a heavy sigh, he walked over to the two cackling bandmates.

“Hey Paul! How’s it going?” Jaime beamed, waving politely to an oncoming disgruntled Paul.

Tommy cocked his head in concern. “Everything okay, babe?”

Paul snapped his head at Tommy, appalled that he would even dare ask such a question. “Is everything okay? Apparently, people at this party are vanishing, you two just waltz off without warning, and you have the audacity to ask me is everything okay? I was really worried, Tommy.”

Tommy furrowed his brow, feeling bad for worrying Paul. “I’m sorry, Paul. I really am. I was feeling a little queasy so I went to the pool bar on the first deck for some ginger ale and ran into Jaime there!”

“Yeah, apparently the bar here was out of Heineken so I went to find another bar on this ship that had some,” Jaime grinned, raising his half empty Heineken bottle in the process.

“We didn’t intend to stay over there too long. We just got caught up reminiscing about old Black ‘n Blue tour stories with some fans,” Tommy shrugged with a half-smile.

Jaime giggled profusely. “Yeah, like that time in Hollywood Tommy and I were singing Led Zeppelin’s “The Lemon Song” backstage and Pete thought we were having sex!” he blurted out obnoxiously.

Tommy chuckled until he saw the unimpressed look on Paul’s face and quickly became stoic. Just then Gene and Eric Singer came running back into the room much to poor Tommy’s relief!

“Where in the hell have you two been?” Doc asked, throwing his hands up in the air.

The catman grinned smugly like the cat who caught the canary. “Ooooh, we were just upstairs fooling around.” He batted his eyelashes playfully at Gene.

Gene tried to hide his smirk. “Ahem! Eric, that’s not appropriate right now. We have a much bigger problem right now concerning Vinnie.”

“Vinnie? What’s wrong with Vinnie?” Eric Carr asked in deep concern.

Before Gene could speak, Eric Singer jumped in to do all the talking. “We were leaving Gene’s room and, on the way, back here when we spotted Vinnie running out of his room like he was in a hurry to get somewhere. I called out to him to ask where the fire was? and he just dropped to the floor and started having a seizure! We ran over to him, and…I just felt like this cold, menacing shadow or something just looming over me…I can’t explain it. We tried calling out to him, but he wasn’t responding to us, he just looked petrified like he saw a ghost or something.”

“Is he going to be okay?” The fox looked over to Gene and Eric Singer with fear radiating out of his brown eyes.

Gene bit his lip. “I…don’t know. Ace and Peter happened to show up when Vinnie hit the ground. He’s paralyzed. They’re up there with him, waiting for the medics to show up. Paul, we need you to come with us,” he pointed to the starchild.

Paul looked at the demon in disbelief. “What for?”

“To go see Vinnie.”

“I’m not a medic! What do you need me for?”

“Come on, Paul. Half the party guests overheard that little spat you had with Vinnie about an hour ago. Do you really want that to be the last thing you say to him?” Gene said seriously, giving the frontman a concerned look.

Paul sighed. He didn’t want to leave the party, but a part of him was starting to feel guilty over shouting at Vinnie earlier. “Okay…fine. I’ll go.”

“I’ll go with you!” Tommy spoke up, stepping forward to stand beside Paul protectively.

“I’m coming too! I’m worried about Vinnie,” Eric Carr exclaimed, following the group to the door.

Doc blocked their pathway to the exit, waving his hands in the air for emphasis. “What? You all can’t leave! The guests will raise hell if all the remaining KISS members leave the party!”

Eric Singer waved a dismissive hand. “Chill out, Doc! We’ll only be gone for a few minutes; besides, this is an emergency after all.”

Doc sighed. He knew he wouldn’t win this argument, or any argument with the band period. “Fine. Just take this back up walkie talkie so we can keep in touch. I can’t afford anyone else to disappear,” he sighed, handing a walkie talkie to Paul. “What do I do if people start asking for KISS?”

“Jaime can distract them,” Tommy suggested with a smile.

Jaime took a sip of his beer and gave a thumbs up to Tommy just as he left the room with the rest of the band. “I sure can.” He paused as if lost in deep thought and then spoke, “What should I do exactly?”

“You’re a musician! Get on stage and play some music!” Doc exclaimed. He was ready for the night to be over already.

…

“I really hope Vinnie will be okay,” Eric Carr sighed sadly as the group went into the nearby elevator.

Gene placed a comforting hand on the distressed Fox’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Eric. Everything will be just fine,” he said as he pressed the button for the thirteenth floor. “By the way...What did Doc mean about people disappearing?”

“We haven’t seen or heard from Bruce, Keith, Ross, and several other crew members within the past hour. Have you seen any of them?” Paul asked with an arched eyebrow.

Gene shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen them, only Ace and Peter. I thought they were all back at the party. What exactly is going on?"

Paul sighed, rubbing his temples to alleviate more stress. “A disaster that’s what.”

Before Gene could question his longtime friend any further the elevator stopped at their destination. The door opened to reveal an empty guard stand.

“Where the hell is the security guard!? Any bloke can just waltz up onto this floor!” Paul protested in disbelief. He had an inkling that he would be firing half the kruise crew before the night was over.

Eric Singer blinked in disbelief. “Where the hell is he? He was just here before he left.”

Gene rolled his eyes. “Clearly someone does not value their job.”

Paul pressed down on walkie talkie’s talk button. “Hey Doc, this is Paul. Can you please alert security that the post on the thirteenth floor is abandoned?”

A few seconds later Doc buzzed in. “What the? What in the hell is going on around here? Has the staff gone mad!? I’ll call security asap. Have you seen the missing others yet?”

Paul took a deep breath before answering. “No, Gene and Eric have not seen them either.”

“WHAT? HOW CAN THEY NOT HAVE SEEN THEM? WHERE IN THE HELL IS EVERYBODY!?”

Paul flinched, holding the walkie talkie away from his ear. Once Doc had finally stopped yelling, Paul pressed the button to respond back, “Don’t worry. We’ll find them. I’ll reach out as soon as I can.”

Gene, Eric Singer, Eric Carr, Paul, Tommy stepped out of the elevator. A cold breeze swept through the hallway as the group proceeded forward in search of their friends.

Eric Carr shivered, folding his arms in an attempt to gain some warmth. “Oh man…I’m getting a bad feeling, you guys. Is it me or is it a little too quiet up here? And why is it so damn cold up here?”

Paul shivered from the rush of cool air. Tommy saw this and immediately wrapped his arms around his boyfriend for comfort. “It’s freezing up here! Did someone turn down the thermostat?”

“Ace! Peter!” Gene called out into the void.

No answer.

“So where exactly is Vinnie’s room again?” Tommy asked, looking around in case anyone happened to be nearby.

“Just around this corner,” Gene said, leading the way.

As the group turned the corner, they were surprised to not see anyone there.

“Huh? Maybe medic came sooner than expected,” Gene deadpanned, scratching his head in confusion.

“But why didn’t Ace and Peter come back to tell us?” Eric Carr asked suspiciously, giving Gene another worried look.

“Well, maybe they followed the medics back to the medical unit with Vinnie,” Eric Singer shrugged.

Gene knocked on Vinnie’s door a few times. “Vinnie? It’s Gene. Are you in there?”

No response.

Gene knocked again.

“I don’t think he’s in there, Gene. We should head back and call to see if he’s in the medical room,” Paul suggested, turning to take his leave until Eric Carr freaked out.

“What is that thing in front of Vinnie’s door!? It looks like one of his dolls!”

Everyone looked down and noticed that Kek, the amphibian faced doll was sitting up in front of Vinnie’s door as if he was guarding it.

Gene did a double take in surprise. Strange. He didn’t even see that doll there before. “Where did that come from?”

“How the hell did that thing get up here? Are you two pulling some kind of prank?” Paul accused Gene and Eric Singer with his hands on his hips.

Gene threw his hands up in defense. “What are you talking about? This thing was not here when we left, someone else clearly put it here.”

Paul rolled his eyes. “Nice joke, Ace and Peter! You two can come out now!” he called out into the hallway.

“Holy shit! It moved! I swear that doll just moved! Did anyone else see that!?” Eric Singer frantically asked the group.

“Calm down, Eric. That doll did not move.”

The catman narrowed his eyes as he went over to pick up the doll. “Man, you are one freaky looking motherfucker,” he said, examining it closer.

Tommy kept his arms around Paul as if he had a feeling something bad was about to happen. “Maybe we should just get back to the party and check in with security.”

Just then all of the lights went out and a bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the hallway.


	4. The Chase

“WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT!?” Eric Carr shrieked, clinging on to what he presumed was Gene for comfort and protection.

The rest of the guys were just as dumbfounded, looking around frantically, desperately trying to make out anything they could in the pitch-black dark corridor. Faint moonlight glimmers reflected through the outside windows giving off an eerie glow along the walls.

“What the hell, man? I can’t even see my own hand in front of my face!” Eric Singer ranted, holding up his hand a few feet away from his face.

Tommy could feel his terrified boyfriend shaking as he gave him a reassured hand squeeze that he was still there and all would be well. “Does anyone here have a flashlight or their phone on them?”

A few muttered nos could be heard.

Paul could feel his heart ricochet against his chest. Thankfully Tommy was at least nearby and that helped him steady his breathing. “What is going on around here? Why did the power go out?” he asked, digging his fingers deep into Tommy’s arm, hoping he sounded somewhat more confident than what he was really feeling right now.

Gene squinted his eyes, hoping they would adjust to the darkness very soon. “No idea. This is all very odd…”

The fox was on the verge of a panic attack at that comment. “Odd? Weird shit has been happening all night long! Ever since Paul tried to get rid of those damn dolls, nothing has been normal around here,” he wailed, clinging onto Gene further.

Paul snapped his head in the timid smaller man’s direction. “Are you blaming me!?”

Eric Singer cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Well, I mean, Vinnie did say he picked those dolls up from a black magic shop. You really shouldn’t fuck around with those sorts of things, Paul” he said, shaking his head in disbelief, chastising Paul as if he were a little kid.

Paul was at an absolute loss for words. “You guys actually believe there is some supernatural force at work here? That makes absolutely no sense!” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Tommy placed a gentle hand on Paul’s shoulder. “Paul, you do have to admit ever since those dolls appeared things have been a little…off,” he said softly and in a way that he hoped would not upset his hypersensitive boyfriend any further.

“And that’s my fault, how? Vinnie’s the one that brought some Egyptian plague onto this ship! Blame him! Not me! I didn’t do anything!”

Eric Singer tsked and then spoke, “But you’re the one that pissed off the deities.

“THAT’S IT!” Paul shouted, releasing his tight grip from Tommy in frustration. “Okay, this charade has gone on long enough! Joke’s over! Ace, Peter, you can come out now and turn the damn power back on.” He then turned his frustration back on the four with him. “I know you all had a hand in this too!”

Gene scoffed, clearly offended at his best friend’s accusations. “What are you talking about, Paul? I had nothing to do with any of this nonsense.” He stopped for a moment as if in thought. “I can’t speak for the others here, though.”

“What the hell, Gene? I was with you the whole time!” Eric Singer whined, smacking Gene in the side.

“Me? I was at the party the whole time! I have no idea what’s going on around here!” Eric Carr yelped in surprise.

Tommy put a reassuring hand back on Paul’s tense shoulder. “Paul, maybe you should just call Doc and tell him what’s going on?”

“Why the hell can’t we just go back to the elevator?” Eric Carr whined, trying to pull Gene to walk back with him in that direction.

“Because the elevator will not work without power,” Gene deadpanned, clearly annoyed at the thought of being stuck on the thirteenth floor all night long.

Eric Carr countered back with, “And how would you know? I bet they’ve got some sort of emergency generator. I’m going to go see for myself.”

Paul reached for the walkie talkie, pressing down on the call button. “Doc! This is Paul! We’re having a bit of a situation up here.”

No response.

“Doc! The power is out on the thirteenth floor. We’re not sure if the power is out on the entire ship. Can you confirm?”

Still no response.

“Damnit! Doc! Hello! Do you copy?” Paul screamed into the walkie talkie receiver.

Gene sighed, holding his hand out. “Here, let me do it. You probably didn’t press the right button.”

“I know how to use the damn walkie talkie, Gene! I just spoke to him a few minutes ago, remember?”

“Well you must be doing something wrong because he’s not answering!”

“I’m telling you; I’m doing the exact same thing I was doing before!”

The two frontmen kept up their bickering until Eric Carr hollered out, causing everyone to stop and look over in his direction.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE FUCK!? GET AWAY FROM ME!”

“Eric? What’s the matter?” Gene screamed out, running off into Eric’s general direction. As soon as he turned the corner, Eric had collided right into him, desperately trying to get away from that area.

Gene grabbed a hold of the fidgety fox. “Woah! Eric, what the hell is the matter with you?” he grunted, gripping tightly onto the smaller man’s arm to keep him from running off.

“There’s something over there!” he wailed out, practically clawing at Gene to get him to release his hold over him.

“What do you mean there’s something over there?” Tommy asked, cocking his head to the side in genuine curiosity.

Eric took a few deep breaths before speaking, “I…I got to the elevator and I saw a really tall, skinny person coming towards me. I thought it was Bruce at first, but when it got closer, it looked like…”

“Come on Eric, spit it out,” Paul sighed, trying to hurry the drummer’s story along.

“I don’t know! But it didn’t look human! Its skin was practically hanging off its cheek bones and when it grabbed me,” Eric shuddered at this next part. “It felt like the cold hand of a corpse!”

“Very mature, Eric! We’re trying to figure out how to get the power back on so we can get the hell out of here and you want to clown around in the dark,” Paul snapped, rubbing his temples.

“I’m not making this up! It really happened!”

“Sure Eric…”

“It did. I—"

“Oh yeah? Then where is this monster? Hmm? You just said it was right behind you! Then where the hell is it?”

“WHA? WHAT THE FUCK? IT BIT ME. IT ACTUALLY BIT ME.”

Paul gave an annoyed look over in the catman’s direction next. “What are you talking about?”

Eric Singer’s breathing became heavy and erratic as he traced over the small bite marks on his thumb. “The doll. It fuckin’ bit me.”

“It’s a damn doll, Eric. It’s not real,” Gene scoffed, grabbing a hold of the other drummer to keep him from freaking out and running off. He had his hands full of the two squirming Erics.

“I know what I fuckin’ felt, Gene, okay?” He cried out, shoving his hand in Gene’s face as if the demon could actually see the damn thing in the darkness.

Eric Carr took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves and keep himself from having a nervous breakdown. “Guys, I...I really think we need to get the hell out of here.”

“Eric’s right, let’s just…” Tommy spoke but was silenced by the sound of strangled gasps.

It sounded like someone or something was struggling to breathe. The grotesque gurgling and sharp intakes of breathing got louder and louder coming towards the group’s direction. Everyone jumped and slowly started backing away.

“Wh...what is that noise?” Eric Carr asked the group barely above a whisper.

“Hey, who’s over there!? Show yourself right now!” Paul called out into the dark, holding his walkie talkie in front of him as some form of defense.

The strangled breathing became louder morphing into an animalistic like yowling.

Gene edged the farthest away from the group, ready to bolt the first chance he could. “Whatever is making that sound cannot be human.”

“I told you there was something else here!” Eric Carr cried out, struggling to free himself from Gene’s ironclad grip once again.

Eric Singer wailed, putting his hands over his mouth to keep himself from gagging. “Ughh! Did something die in here!?”

A dank odor filled the cold hallway, overwhelming everyone’s senses immediately, prompting them to cough out. The air reeked of rotting meat as the source of the smell finally approached the group. There was just enough light from the window for the group to make out the figures of what looked like a zombified cat creature on all fours, crawling towards the group.

“Peter? Is that you?” Paul asked; his eyes straining to make out the smeared outlines of The Catman makeup.

“Paul…careful,” Tommy hissed a whisper, trying to pull his boyfriend back.

With the sound of bones snapping, the creature gave the group a lopsided look, grinning wickedly as its eyes rolled into the back of its head, revealing two pupil-less white orbs.

Eric Singer stood in awe. “What the F—”

“RUN!” bellowed Gene right before the creature lunged at the group, chasing them on all four of its hands and legs.

Everyone screamed bloody murder, running down the opposite end of the dark hallway as fast they could. The sound of the creature’s gurgling gasps and heavy panting was trailing not too far behind them. Just as the group made a sharp turn, something lunged out of one of the rooms grabbing a hold of Paul’s arm trying to pull him closer. Paul screamed as he felt the cold, clammy hands of the dead latch onto his wrist. With quick reflexes, he managed to kick the creature off of him, releasing its grip onto his arm.

“In here!” Gene screamed out, opening his room door for everyone to run inside.

Once inside, everyone was able to catch their breath and steady their thundering heartbeats.

“What the hell was that thing?” Eric Carr gasped out, holding his hand on his heart in hopes of calming himself down.

“Some kind of prank? Please tell me that was just Peter and Ace we encountered just now,” Tommy said, wrapping his arms around the hyperventilating Paul.

“I didn’t know Peter could make his head snap off like that!” Eric Singer exclaimed.

“Alright! Everyone just calm down! We need to find a way out of here,” the demon grumbled while trying to flicker the light switch on in hopes the power would magically just turn on which it didn’t.

“Someone should go check to see if those things are still out there,” Paul gasped out, still trying to steady his erratic nerves.

“Hey Eric, you wanna pop your head out there real fast?” Tommy asked the shaking fox beside him, avoiding eye contact with everyone in hopes that he wouldn’t get picked.

Eric Carr shivered with his back pressed firmly up against the wall as far away from the door as humanly possible. “Hell no! Gene, you should go!” he squeaked.

Gene snorted, folding his arms in disinterest. “You can’t pay me enough to go back out there. Eric, you’re the closest to the door,” he suggested, noticing the catman closed the gap between him and the door.

“Like hell am I going back out there! You should go, Paul. This is your fault anyway. I mean, you really should take one for the team, just sayin,’” Eric Singer replied with a casual shrug.

“This is not my fault! It’s Vinnie’s fault for bringing those damn dolls onto this ship! I just knew inviting him was a bad idea,” Paul ranted, pacing back and forth in the room like he normally does whenever he’s stressed out.

“Okay, are we seriously going to sit here and argue when there’s creatures from Hell outside? We need to find another way out of here,” Gene reasoned, observing his room in deep thought.

“What if there isn’t another way out? We’re doomed!” Eric Carr whined, looking down in defeat.

“Eric, will you just calm down already! You’re really starting to grate on my nerves!” Paul snapped as he still kept up with his pacing.

“You calm down, Paul! How the hell do you expect any of us to keep our cool at a time like this?” he yelled back.

“Do not raise your voice at me, Eric! I’m the only one over here trying to think of a way to get us out of this mess! You need to pull it together and help come up with a way out of here!”

“I’m really getting sick and tired of you bossing us all around!”

“You really need to calm the hell down, Eric!”

“You’re the one that NEEDS to calm the hell down!”

“How about you both calm the hell down? We’re getting nowhere with all this arguing. I have an idea. Let’s look for an emergency fire exit that could get us out of here,” Gene calmly suggested, feeling around the walls for another door.

Paul gave a long and exasperated sigh. “There are no emergency exits, Gene. This is a cruise ship not a Manhattan apartment.”

Gene stopped searching and gave Paul an aggravated look. “Okay, wise guy. What’s your plan for getting us out of here then?”

Loud grunting and banging noises started coming from behind the other side of the door.

“Look for an air vent or something!” Paul screamed, joining in with Gene to search for some kind of exit out of the room.

They all searched throughout the room and by great luck, Eric Singer found the air vent behind Gene’s suitcase.

The bolts on the door were beginning to loosen.

“I found it!” Eric Singer yelled, removing the template.

Once the template was removed, Paul dove onto the floor, crawling into the crawl space with Tommy right behind him. After Tommy had gone in far enough, Eric Singer went in next.

The door hinges rattled as three zombified arms were able to force their way through the opening.

“HURRY UP! YOU GUYS!” Eric Carr freaked, watching as the catman seemed to be taking his sweet time.

“Get in there, Eric! Get. In. There!” Gene screamed, shoving the drummer further into the space so he could finally get in there.

“Ay! Easy Gene, you wanna take me to dinner first?” Eric Singer quipped, giving Gene a sly smirk.

“Just shut up and move!” the demon growled, forcing his way into the crowded crawl space much to the annoyance of the other three who were colliding into each other uncomfortably.

As Eric Carr started to go in, the door busted open and in came the undead.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GO! GO! GO!” Eric Carr screamed, trying to push Gene.

The other three tried to crawl faster for poor Eric’s sake. Eric managed to get half of his body into the vent before he was dragged back out.

“NOOOOOOOOOO! GENE! HELP ME!” Eric screamed, desperately trying to reach for the demon’s hand, but it was too late.

Everyone looked back and watched in one swift motion as Eric was pulled out of the vent and dragged into the crowd, and then everything went deathly silent.

“ERIC?” Gene called out.

“Oh my god…please tell me that did not just happen,” Eric Singer said nervously. “Is he, ya know?”

“ERIC!?” Gene screamed out again but much more frantic.

Paul bit his lip and looked down, lost in deep thought.

“Should we go back and check?” Tommy offered.

“Are you out of your damn mind!?” Eric hissed in annoyance at the spaceman.

Gene sat back, wide eyed in complete shock at what had happened. “I..I..think we should keep moving forward.”

And they all kept moving forward to what appeared to be a soft, glowing light at the end of the tunnel. Paul broke loose the air vent template on the other end. He crawled out into what looked to be another bedroom. After a few minutes everyone was out of the air vent and into the room.

“Where the hell are we?” Paul grumbled, looking around the disorganized room. The rest of the guys looked around awestruck, carefully trying to maneuver around the mess.

“You mean, what in the hell happened here?” Gene corrected, noticing the clothing drawers were turned upside down. Clothes, papers, guitar picks, books, bedsheets, and garbage were haphazardly laying around the room. It literally looked like the aftermath of a tornado damage.

The only thing left intact was the small desk in the back of the room. On it, several little candles were lit in a circle. Within the circle was a black book with a particular passage circled in red, a small glass vial with a thick, red substance within it and a picture of Paul with a red circle around his face.

Paul couldn’t help but shudder. “What the hell is all of this? Why is my picture on this desk?” he freaked out, not only disturbed by seeing his picture of all things in this creepy room, but to see his face circled as if he were some kind of target.

“I think we’re in Vinnie’s room!” Tommy pointed out, noticing Vinnie’s hot pink Jackson V was carelessly laying on its back on the floor amongst the rest of the mess. “But what the hell happened up here? It looks like his room has been completely ransacked!”

“Oh my God! What the fuck? Did Vinnie slaughter an animal up here?” Eric Singer gagged, opening up a black trash bag beside the desk and seeing what looked like dead pig body parts in it. The decaying pig face looked at Eric while flies and maggots ate away at its deteriorating flesh. Horrified at what he had seen, Eric immediately closed up the trash bag.

Paul backed away from the desk anxiously, nearly tripping over a chair in the process. “I..I think Vinnie has been practicing some kind of dark magic. We need to get the hell out of here and off this damn ship!” he panicked.

“And go where? We’re in the middle of the Caribbean,” Gene replied coolly, observing the tiny shrine on the desk. His eyes instinctively went to the little black book. The passages were scribbled in what looked like ancient Egyptian Arabic, but one passage in particular was circled in red.

“What does it say?” Paul asked nervously.

Gene shook his head. “I don’t know. I can’t read Arabic. My guess is it has something to do with everything happening right now.”

Paul rolled his eyes. “Of course, it does. Look, can we just get the hell out of here? I’m really starting to get some bad vibes about this room.”

“Hey, look over there!” Eric pointed out. Across the room a little red light blinked in the corner. Eric cautiously approached the blinking light to see that it was a small video camera. Carefully he picked it up as the rest of the guys gathered to inspect the catman’s find.

Tommy squinted his eyes. “It looks like there was something recorded on it,” he said, pressing the play button.

In the image viewer, a very distraught looking Vinnie appeared on screen. He looked like a cornered animal.

“I..I don’t have much time. If anyone sees this, please, The Great Ones have been disrespected, and just as I feared will seek their vengeance tonight. They’ve come to me in my visions…I’ve seen what will happen. Paul, what the hell have you done?” he trailed off, shaking his head in sorrow as the footage began to distort with a crackling interference. After a few seconds, the screen reverted back to normal. Vinnie was now shaking uncontrollably with a wide-eyed petrified look in his eyes. Three ominous looking shadows were slowly closing in on him as he spoke quickly, “Death will befall upon this ship unless the accused can make a sacrifice to the three offended Gods before midnight in the room where the sin was committed. You must drink the tainted blood of the swine to appease the God of Revenge, you must confess your sins in the dark to appease the God of Chaos and Darkness, and finally, you must sincerely apologize to appease the Goddess of Mercy and Punishment.” As the shadows fully closed in on Vinnie, the footage flickered a few times before freezing on a still shot of him screaming at something off camera. Before anyone could react, a shadow figure jumped up at the camera screen causing everyone to scream and back away as the transmission ended in static.

Eric ran his hand down his face before he spoke, “Damn, Paul, I’ve always heard karma’s a bitch, but you’ve really gone and done it now.”

Gene took the vial of blood off the table and handed it to Paul. “I guess you know what you have to do now.”

Paul nearly slapped it out of the demon’s hand as he recoiled in horror. “What the fuck, Gene? I’m not drinking pig blood!” His breathing became erratic as he started freaking out. “This is insane! This can’t be happening…this can’t be happening!”

“Paul! Paul! It’s all going to be okay!” Tommy tried to grab a hold of Paul to calm him down, but the starchild was in his own state of traumatic shock and on the verge of tears to really comprehend the world around him.

“I can’t! I can’t! I can’t!” Paul wailed, crushing his face into Tommy’s chest as a gut-wrenching sob worked its way up his throat.

Gene grabbed Paul’s arm pulling him upright, forcing the vial of blood into his hand. “Damnit Paul! Pull yourself together! You have to for all of our sakes!”

Tommy stood up to step in between Paul and Gene. “Gene, that’s enough! He’s terrified out of his mind! Can’t you see?” he yelled at the towering demon.

Gene gave Tommy a condescending look. “Well, of course, I can see that,” he said, turning his attention to Paul. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to do this alone. We’ll go with you…I think the stairwell is not too far to the left from here. We can get back to the party room that way.”

Paul shook his head, fighting back the oncoming tears. “This isn’t real! There is no way this can all be real.” He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping, no praying when he opened them this would all be some sick, deluded nightmare.

“You saw those things and what they did to poor Eric with your own two eyes!” Eric exclaimed. “How do we know there aren’t more of those freaks outside the hallway?”

Gene pressed his ear against the door, signaling for everyone to be quiet. After a few silent seconds, he glanced through the peephole to make sure the coast was clear. “I don’t hear or see anything out there. We’re going to have to take a chance and haul ass out of here as quietly as we can.”

“Are you shitting me?” Eric scoffed with his arms folded.

“You got any better ideas? The air vent ends here. We have no other choice but to take our chances in the hallway if we want to get the hell out of here! Our only chance is to stick together.”

Paul was being quiet, staring down at the little vial in his hands. He was trying very hard not to vomit at the thought of what he was going to have to do. “I can’t do this...I won’t! It’s not real! It’s not fucking real,” he sobbed.

Tommy was really concerned for Paul now. He had never seen the frontman so stressed out before in his life. “Paul? Hey listen…” he whispered, placing a comforting hand on Paul’s shaky free hand.

“Okay, on the count of three, we run out of here,” Gene instructed, firmly grasping his hand onto the door knob, turning it slowly.

“One…”

Gene clenched his other fist, preparing himself for a fight.

“Two…”

Everyone braced themselves not knowing what awaited them on the other side of the door.

“Three!”

Just as Gene opened the door, the closet door to the left of him burst open with a zombified creature lunging right at the demon, tackling him to the ground in surprise.

“WHAT THE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Gene screamed as the zombie bit down into his neck. Blood spurted everywhere while the demon thrashed around until going stiff.

“GENE!” Paul shrieked, running over to his limp body. The zombie looked up at Paul.

“What the? Ace?” He cried out, recognizing the zombified spaceman. The creature gave an unintelligible moan with Gene’s blood dripping down his chin. He gave a few clumsy swipes before standing up to go after his new target, leaving Gene face down in a bloody puddle.

“GENE! OH MY GOD! FUCK THIS SHIT! I’M OUT OF HERE!” Eric shrilled, running out of the door and into the hallway.

Paul screamed, nearly tripping over Gene’s body as he ran out of the room before the zombified Ace could get him.

“PAUL! PAUL!” Tommy screamed out a few feet behind.

Paul was too terrified to look back as he ran down the dark hallway as fast as his legs could carry him. He tried to follow Eric but the quick little catman had sprinted too far ahead to be seen. As Paul rounded a corner the hallway split into two different directions. In a panic, Paul veered off the right while Eric went to the left.


	5. The End

Paul ran all the way to the very end of the hallway. He opened the door to what he thought was the entrance into the stairwell only to find out it was just a janitor’s closet. He had taken a wrong turn. In a panic, he hid himself into the little room to at least rest for a bit and catch his breath. Pressing his ear up against the door, he tried to listen for any sounds outside. Nothing. As hard as he tried, he struggled to keep his shaky breathing quiet in case those monsters were still out there.

“Oh God…I can’t do this,” he gasped, using his hand to steady his heartbeat from ripping out of his chest. “But…I can’t hide in here forever. Maybe there’s a flashlight in here somewhere,” he whispered to himself feeling around on the shelves behind him.

He shrieked when he felt something slither across his hand. Paul looked up to see the Meretseger doll glaring back at him from the top shelf. Even in the dark, her piercing gaze bore through him. Paul screamed, throwing himself out of the closet and back into the hallway. He immediately covered his mouth so those monsters wouldn’t be able to hear him. Just as Paul was about to steady his breathing, he felt someone grab him from behind.

He hollered out, smacking whatever had grabbed him by surprise.

“It’s okay, Paul! It’s only me!”

“Tommy?” Paul breathed a sigh of relief, ceasing his thrashing movements at once, looking up at the figure before him.

“Yeah. Are you okay?” the spaceman asked with deep concern in his voice.

At once, Paul threw himself in Tommy’s arms, tears streaming down his face. “Oh my God, Tommy! I’m so glad you’re okay! I don’t know where Eric is! I can’t believe Gene…he’s…he’s…oh my God! Is he really dead?” he sobbed hysterically.

Tommy wrapped his arms lovingly around Paul, rubbing his back up and down. “Paul, c’mon, let’s get you out of here,” he said softly, grabbing Paul’s hand and pulling him forward down into the dark hallway.

Faint glimmers of light flashed through the hallway windows. The distant booming of music from the lower deck could be heard through the paper-thin ship walls. Paul glanced out of the windows looking down onto the pool deck, watching as several KISS fans were partying without a care in the world, completely oblivious to the madness on the thirteenth floor.

As the duo kept walking forward, they stumbled upon the split in the corridor. However, guarding the corridor was a really tall figure that Paul recognized from the party wearing a weathered cloak. Only this time this figure was wielding a giant khopesh. It was walking very awkwardly from one end of the corridor into the other, dragging the Egyptian sword across the floor.

“Paul, We—”

“Shut up! Don’t let him hear you!” Paul harshly whispered, yanking Tommy to hide behind the wall with him.

Paul peered his head out into the corridor to check on the creep’s status. As soon as he saw it turn around, he whipped his head back around the corner.

“Okay, Tommy, as soon as he has his back turned, we run down the hallway to the right, Got it?”

“Paul…”

“On my mark and not a second sooner.”

“Paul!”

“Damnit Tommy! What is it?”

Tommy was cut off by a sickening thud sound. His face had a shocked expression as he fell flat to the floor. A khopesh was stuck onto the back of his head. Paul screamed and took a step back. He looked up as the cloaked figure took a swipe at Paul with the weapon just barely missing him. Paul pushed past the creature as he darted down the other corridor. 

After running a few feet, Paul collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion not even giving a damn if the monster was following him. He was sweating profusely. His hair was a mess. His entire body was exhausted from all of the running. He felt as if he was going to blackout out right then and there from all of the stress.

“Paul…”

Paul jumped up at his name.

“Paul…please.”

Paul looked around frantically. There was no one near him.

“Help me…”

“Where are you?” Paul called out, bringing himself back up to an upright position. As he continued walking down the hallway, the voice started getting clearer.

Just as Paul took another step, he felt something grab his ankle. He shrieked looking down, seeing Eric Singer lying face down. His body was covered in deep cuts and blood.

“ERIC! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU?” Paul screamed, falling back down.

Suddenly Eric crawled very quickly towards Paul. He screamed and crawled back as fast as he could.

“NO! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” He screamed, kicking Eric until he went stiff.

Paul mustered up enough strength to rise to his feet and make a run for it to the end of the hallway. He was relieved to open the door that led him into the stairwell. The lights flickered on and off in the stairwell like some kind of horror maze as Paul hurried down the steps, trying not to trip and fall in the process. A crackle and buzz came from his walkie-talkie. Paul paused to grab a hold of the device and speak into it.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

An ear-piercing interference buzz screeched through the monitor before the muffled voice of another person could be heard.

“Hell….lp…..me….please…some…one…plea…se….hell…lp.”

Paul took a deep breath before trying to answer back, “Hello? Who is this?”

“SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!” the voice screamed back into the receiver before breaking out into a heart wrenching sob.

“Bruce? Bruce, is that you?” Paul winced, recognizing his longtime friend’s petrified voice on the other end.

“P...Pa...ul?”

His voice broke up before becoming overpowered by the interference static. The static only lasted a few seconds before a new voice screamed through the receiver.

“SOMEONE HELP ME! HE’S GOING TO KILL ME!” came a panicky voice that Paul recognized as one of his roadies.

Before Paul could respond, multiple familiar voices screaming and crying for help all at once screeched in through the receiver. Paul slumped across the stairwell railing trying not to vomit. A mix of terror and nausea overwhelmed his system, causing him to double over. For the first time in years, Paul Stanley truly felt weak and defenseless. His friends were in danger and there was not a damn thing he could do about it but get to the party room to perform the ritual.

With a loud bang, several of those undead creatures had burst through the door, growling as they tried to take a swipe at Paul from the upper stair railing. With great haste, Paul trudged down the stairs as fast and as careful as he could, descending down and down the dimly lit stairwell with the monsters not too far behind. After what felt like an eternity, Paul finally made it to the fifth floor, bursting through the door and down the darkened corridor straight into the abandoned looking party room.

Paul looked around the dark room in horror. Where the hell was everyone? He didn’t have too long to ponder this as the sounds of loud banging could be heard coming from outside the door. He leaped onto the small stage in the middle of the room.

Immediately, Paul pulled out the vial of pig’s blood. He made a face of disgust. “For the God of Revenge,” he cried out, popping the top off and downing the blood in one gulp. He was pleasantly surprised. The taste wasn’t as atrocious as he expected it to be.

“What’s next? What’s next?” Paul panicked, trying to think back to what Vinnie had said moments ago. “Oh, yes, confess your sins in the dark to the God of Chaos and Darkness.”  
Pau hesitated. Which sins was he supposed to confess out loud exactly? The banging outside of the room intensified.

“Okay! Okay! I disrespected the ancient Egyptian deities and I…” Paul paused, thinking back to watching his friends get attacked and hearing their wailing cries for help. “I haven’t been very considerate of my friends lately. I took them all for granted, especially Tommy.” Paul felt a soft sob rise up from his throat, thinking back to his poor boyfriend’s demise. “I’ve been so caught up in worrying about the future that I forgot to slow down and just enjoy the present.”

The loud banging became a thundering boom all around him, getting much more menacing and aggressive by the second. This was it. The moment of truth. His apology to the Goddess of Punishment and Mercy would determine his outcome.

“I’M SORRY!” Paul screamed out to the heaven’s above. “I’m sorry for my behavior tonight. I’m sorry for disrespecting everyone around me. I promise I will do better. Please! I beg of you! Please give me another chance! Please, not for me, but for my friends! They didn’t deserve any of this! But I do…” he wailed in the most heartfelt apology he had ever given in his entire life.

The clock struck midnight as the lights turned back on.

“HAPPY HALLOWEEN, PAUL!” cheered and laughed all of the party guests.

Paul stood still like a deer caught in headlights. He watched as all of his bandmates, Doc, Jaime, and the crew came through the door along with the “undead creatures” who he immediately recognized as some of his roadies in makeup.

Eric Singer hugged Paul’s waist tightly. “Awww. We accept your apology, Paul!”

Paul, still in a daze just absentmindedly patted Eric on the back in return.

“We hope you all have enjoyed our Halloween skit! You wanted the best Halloween party; you got the best Halloween party!” Gene obnoxiously cheered into the mic a few feet away from a still very stunned Paul.

Paul craned his neck slowly in Gene’s direction. Under clenched teeth he muttered, “What in the hell is going on around here?”

“It’s okay, Paul. This was all just a prank to scare you,” Doc said quietly, putting his hand on Paul’s shoulder, pulling him off to the side so he could chat in private with the rest of the band and crew.

“A prank?” the starchild parroted back completely dumbfounded.

“Yeah, Paul, we got tired of you treating us all like crap, so Gene and I came up with this idea. Gene has always wanted to star as a leading role in a horror movie so we got to thinking; How cool would it be to film a live action KISS horror movie? We had all the crew and all the guests here participate in this prank we schemed into a live action horror movie. We had hidden cameras upstairs so the party guests could watch everything live down here. Man, this turned out way cooler than we ever imagined,” Eric Singer laughed.  
Paul blinked a few times as if his brain was trying to reboot. “Are you serious? So, you all were in on this the whole time?” he asked in shock.

Ace smacked Paul hard across the back. “Well, not all of us, Curly. You see, me, Peter and little Eric had no idea about any of this at first! Cat and I didn't find out until we went upstairs to investigate. Course, as soon as we ran into the guys and the crew setting it all up, we wanted to be part of the fun, too.”

Peter gave a wicked grin, cocking his head to the side. “Yep! I sure can play one freaky motherfucker!”

“Yeah, I honestly had no idea. It wasn’t until I got pulled out of the air vent that I was able to recognize these so-called zombies,” Eric Carr laughed, hugging one of the nearby crew members in zombie makeup.

Paul shook his head in disbelief. “B...But…But…your deaths looked so realistic!” he exclaimed.

Gene laughed, pointing to the prosthetic attached to his neck. “All thanks to the extremely talented makeup crew on the ship! You know, they’ve worked in Hollywood movies, Paul. They had all of these really cool, creepy prosthetics, fake blood, fake weapons, sound effects, makeup, and everything you can think of to create a horror movie set. Next to getting laid, this was the most fun I’ve ever had in the dark.”

Ace cackled, wrapping an arm around Gene. “Yeah, consider me biting your neck revenge for all of those years you wouldn’t stop licking my neck onstage!”

“When we got separated one of the makeup artists was waiting for me down the hall to coat me in fake blood and give me a few fake slash marks so it would look like I was attacked,” Eric Singer added.

“And as for me, Bruce used this plastic khopesh that squirts fake blood, but it looked real enough so they used that for my death,” Tommy confessed.

Paul looked over to see Bruce was dressed in a weathered looking cloak.

“Wait, so those three people at the party dressed like Vinnie’s dolls?” Paul began but was interrupted by Bruce.

“Yes, it was just me, Keith and Ross.”

“But what about the dolls? How did they get moved?” Paul asked, still freaked out about the thought of those freaky inanimate objects coming to life.

Doc shyly raised a hand. “I took them out of the trash after Peter disposed of them. I gave one to Ross to leave behind in the party room. He was hiding behind the table. When Keith flicked the lights off, Ross took the doll. I gave the other two dolls to Joe to take upstairs. We all had walkie-talkies to keep in touch with each other the entire time.”

“So, I didn’t actually drink pig blood?” Paul asked, looking at the empty vial he still had in his hand. He knew there was something oddly familiar about its taste but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Ace and Peter both started laughing hysterically.

“Hell no! That was Merlot,” Peter wheezed in between his laughing fits.

Paul scoffed, “You mean, everything was fake? I cannot believe you all had the audacity to trick me and scare the shit out of me all for the sake of entertainment! I am extremely pissed off at everyone!” he snapped, glaring at everyone around him.

Vinnie stepped forward. “That’s understandable, Paul. I’ll admit, I wasn’t too sure about this plan at first, but I was assured that you and no one would be harmed. I only went along with it because it honestly sounded like such a fun Halloween gag.”

“Well, I’m glad you all had fun!” Paul pouted, folding his arms tightly against his chest still looking displeased.

“Aw, Paul, we’re sorry for not telling you, but we figured the acting would be ten times better if someone actually believed it was real,” Gene smiled.

“Yeah, hell, I’ll admit. There were times that I actually forgot this was all one big act!” Eric Singer exclaimed, leaning up against Gene.

Paul still looked pissed. He looked like he was on the verge of screaming and crying.

“Paul, think of how much the fans enjoyed this! They all are convinced we staged this together as part of the entertainment tonight! They actually think the fighting was a part of the act! They’ll be talking about this horror movie skit for a long time! Now you have to admit, not even Steven Tyler could top that. I’d say the KISS Halloween party was far superior to the Aerosmith one,” Gene said gently, rubbing a reassuring hand over his offended business partner’s shoulders.

Paul looked out into the crowd of the over ecstatic fans. They really did look like they were having the time of their lives. He could overhear them still chirping over the cool Halloween skit. They really were convinced this was all one big act…

With a heavy sigh, Paul gave a gentle smile. “You’re right, Gene. As long as no one got hurt and the fans had fun then what’s the real harm?”

“So, you’re not mad? Cause damn Paulie, if I was in your shoes, I’d be ready to murder everyone involved!” Ace obnoxiously exclaimed.

Paul turned his head in the spaceman’s direction. “Oh, believe me, I am angry. I was deathly scared and I am deeply humiliated, but as long as everyone is convinced this was all one big act then I can be okay with that. No one WILL ever know the truth behind tonight. Got it? This was all staged as a little Halloween surprise for the fans. We do NOT discuss this ever again! Understand?” he hissed in a low threatening tone.

Everyone nodded and agreed. And with that the band went and rejoined the last few minutes of the party.

…

It was 12:30AM and the party was finally over. Security was ushering the party guests out while the cleanup crew had begun to take down the party decorations. Many of the guests asked eagerly if the band had any plans to release their horror movie. Thanks to Paul, the footage would never see the light of day.

“I can’t get over how awesome that horror skit was! That was worth the price of admission alone. Leave it to KISS to think outside of the box in terms of Halloween parties!” cheered an ecstatic fan’s voice.

“Meh...you could tell the acting was staged and the effects were cheesy just like Phantom of The Park,” whined another fan.

As the guests were leaving, Tommy noticed Paul was outside on the balcony, overlooking the ocean. With a sigh, he cautiously went outside to approach Paul. The strong ocean breeze took his breath by surprise.

“Hey…” he said softly.

Paul looked up to give him a soft smile. “Hey.” His dark curls flapped back in the wind. Even during a heavy wind storm, Tommy couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Paul still looked.

Tommy stood beside Paul. The two were silent just staring off into the distance at the bright full moon. The moonlight had cast a silvery reflection into the dark waters that sparkled like thousands of little diamonds. Finally, Tommy had the courage to speak, “Paul, I.”

“I know you want to break up with me.”

Tommy looked up at him in surprise. Paul looked stoic as he kept his gaze on the ocean waves crashing up on the side of the ship. His hands tightened its grip on the guard rail. “Did you really think Eric could keep a secret?” he snorted, looking up into Tommy’s soft hazel eyes.

Tommy bit his cheek to bide some time. He really didn’t expect to tackle this topic tonight of all nights considering everything that just went down. “I was thinking about it but only because you’ve been so unhappy lately, Paul. I just…feel like no matter what I do…I just can’t make you happy. Every time I try to talk to you, you just push me away. I thought maybe this is what you wanted,” he said softly, looking into Paul’s saddened dark brown eyes.

Paul frowned, grabbing Tommy’s hands. “Tommy, I know I’ve been difficult. You’ve been so good to me and I haven’t treated you very fair. I’m sorry. Please, forgive me.” He shook his head as a few stray tears rolled down his cheek. “I thought…I honestly thought you were killed tonight. I couldn’t bear the thought of knowing that our last few moments were us arguing. I’m sorry…it’s just. I’ve…” his voice trailed off as he sniffled.

Tommy rubbed his fingers over Paul’s fingers tenderly as he spoke, “It’s okay, Paul. You know you can always talk to me. Please, baby, I want to be here for you. Please tell me what has gotten you so worked up lately?”

Paul took a deep breath. “It’s just…this whole End of The Road tour has me freaking out. KISS has been my whole world for the last forty-seven years. I’ve been The Starchild for so long that I just don’t know… I just don’t know if I’m ready for it all to end yet. I don’t know what I’m going to do for the rest of my life…” His voice cracked as he confessed his ultimate fear.

Tommy pulled the frontman into a tight, comforting hug. “We’ll figure it out together. No matter what happens, I’ll be here by your side, Paul, always, if you’ll still have me,” he whispered, kissing his forehead.

Paul looked up at Tommy with tear glistened eyes. “I’m still mad at you for going along with this prank, ya know?”

Tommy nodded. “Paul, I’m sorry about everything tonight. I really am. I didn’t want to participate, but Gene was hell bent on making this horror movie skit happen. Jaime refused to have any part of this. I only went along with it because I wanted to make sure you were safe the entire time. I did try to tell you a couple of times tonight.”

Tommy used his thumbs to gently wipe away Paul’s tears, doing his best to not smear the black makeup in the star outline too much. “Paul, when I saw how terrified you were tonight. It just really affirmed how much I still love you. All I could think about was protecting you and keeping you safe from harm. Even though I knew it was all fake, I just can’t bear the thought of going on without you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Paul nodded, wrapping his arms around Tommy’s shoulders. The two shared a gentle, sweet kiss that quickly turned passionate as Tommy’s hands cupped Paul’s face, pulling him in closer to intensify the kiss.

“Get a room you two!” Eric Singer obnoxiously announced from the open door.

The two broke their kiss and shot the catman a heated death glare, which he took as his hint to get the hell out of there.

“You know…” Tommy whispered, getting Paul’s attention. “We do have a couple of weeks off after the cruise. Why don’t we relax at my beach house? I think we both could use a little one on one time after everything that’s happened. Besides…I wanna make it up to you for everything tonight.”

Paul sighed happily. “That sounds wonderful.”

The two shared one last chaste kiss before returning back to the party room as the band and crew were starting to wind down for the night.

Jaime waved Tommy and Paul over to him. “Hey, Tommy, there’s going to be a private afterparty on the first deck. Are you interested?”

Tommy clasped his fingers with Paul’s fingers. “Oh, no thanks, I think I’m gonna spend some time with Paul tonight,” he smiled lovingly at Paul who returned the sentimental look back.

Peter snickered. “Hey, you think I can get a copy of that footage tonight? You know…just to fondly look back on Paul practically pissing his pants.”

“The events tonight never happened,” Paul grumbled, tensing up from the memory of everything he had to endure tonight.

“Sure, it did! We all saw it!”

“It never happened, Peter,” Gene chimed in with a mouthful of cupcakes. His back was turned to everyone as he unabashedly raided what was left of the dessert table.

“Really? So just like Phantom of The Park, we’re just gonna pretend this little horror movie skit never existed?”

Tommy put a protective arm around Paul. “I made sure everything recorded was deleted tonight. All of the guests' phones were confiscated during the viewing so no illegal recordings took place. We do not speak of tonight ever again. It never happened,” he said sternly, walking out of the room with Paul in tow.

“YOU SEE, THIS IS WHY I THINK YOU’RE ALL ASSHOLES!” Peter ranted, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

Ace cackled; smacking Peter hard across the back. “Ay, c’mon, Cat, let’s go check out this afterparty, Jaime was talking about. We can regale tonight over a couple of ‘club sodas,’” he grinned, walking out of the room with Peter and Jaime.

“So, Vinnie did you really get those dolls at a witchcraft store?” one of the roadies casually asked the guitarist on his way out.

Vinnie smiled and shook his head no. “Oh, my goodness no! I just thought it would make for a good spooky Halloween story.”

“Uh huh. So where did you really get them?”

“At some thrift store in Miami,” Vinnie replied with a chuckle as he left the room.

“I KNEW IT!” Peter’s voice boomed down the hall.

Eric Singer smirked as he approached Gene from behind as he was still snacking off of the leftover chocolate cupcakes. “You know, Gene, we’re like hot chocolate and marshmallows. You’re hot and I want to be on top of you,” he purred, pinching Gene’s bottom, causing the bassist to drop his cupcake in surprise.

The demon smirked, turning around to pin Eric up against the wall. “Oh, would my little marshmallow like to be on my skewer tonight?” His hot, husky breath sent shivers down Eric’s spine.

Doc rolled his eyes. “Okay, you two, parties over! We gotta be out of here now,” he groaned, ushering the two horny bandmates off of each other and out of the room.

Bruce was just about to follow Doc out when he noticed Eric Carr was standing off to himself in the corner of the room.

“Hey Eric! You coming, man?” he called out to the smaller man.

Eric remained still with his back facing Bruce.

Bruce cocked his head in concern. “Eric, are you alright?”

Still no response.

Bruce sighed, approaching his friend from behind. “Really Eric? Come on, joke’s over. You can’t scare me,” he laughed.

Eric slowly turned around with a blank expression and cutting board knife in his hands.

“Ooooh, very scary,” Bruce mock laughed. “C’mon Eric, let’s get out of here.”

Eric locked eyes with Bruce and with a sadistic smirk plastered across his face, he walked towards the taller man, holding the knife out.

“Okay, Eric, that’s enough! This isn’t funny anymore,” Bruce started to get scared as Eric backed him up against a wall.

Eric held the knife up in the air.

“I MEAN IT, ERIC! THIS IS NOT FUNNY!”

Before Bruce could make a run for it, Eric stabbed him in the chest again and again. Bruce slumped to his knees as blood came pouring out. Eric looked down at Bruce with a sinister smile at him being in severe pain.

As Bruce hit the ground, he realized he wasn’t in any pain at all.

“What the fuck?” he yelled, examining the “blood” all over his t-shirt.

Eric broke character and doubled over in a fit of high-pitched giggles. “GOTCHYA, BRUCIE! It’s a fake knife, see?” he exclaimed, showing Bruce the little plastic weapon. “Whenever you press a button on the handle, fake blood comes out just like that sword you used on Tommy. Man, you should have seen your face! I got you good!”

Bruce stood up on wobbly knees with his hand over his heart. “Heh…yeah, you sure did, Foxy. You sure did.”

“Happy Halloween, Bruce!” Eric cheered, grabbing his terrified friend’s shaky hand to help lead him out of the room.

“Happy Halloween, Eric.”


End file.
